Sangrai Timoho, Umbulharjo — 2022. Photograph: studio photography collaborator.
Small-scale commercial
Sangrai Timoho
The site and the problem
A narrow plot, 9 by 20 metres, on a lane four metres wide, with houses on three sides. The governing problem was not appearance but smoke. A medium-capacity roasting machine needs a flue tall enough that its discharge does not fall into the neighbours’ yards, and it needs a safe distance from the openings of the house next door.
The second problem was regulatory: a three-metre setback from the front boundary on a plot nine metres wide immediately removes almost a fifth of the usable area. The height limit was two storeys, and the zoning had to be checked first because this was a commercial building.
Massing study
Four alternatives were tested against two things at once: where the smoke goes, and where the machine heat rises.
Alternative A— Ditolak
Rejected. Two full storeys give the largest area, but the cafe and the roasting area share one volume of air.
Alternative B— Ditolak
Rejected. A tall mass at the front closes off a four-metre lane and shades the house opposite all morning.
Alternative C— Terpilih
Selected. The upper floor sits only at the front, the roasting area at the rear is left double height with a void to the roof, and the flue goes on the north side.
Alternative D— Ditolak
Rejected. An upper floor at the rear blocks the path of the machine heat and forces the flue higher still.
Design decisions
01
The flue is made a building element rather than hidden
A steel flue rising six metres above the roasting floor is clad in brick and placed on the north side, against the stair. Its position was set after checking it against the two nearest openings of the neighbouring houses.
02
The roasting area sits at the rear of the ground floor, with a void to the roof
Heat from the machine rises through the void and leaves through the ridge vent. The cafe is at the front, so visitors can watch the roasting through glass without sharing its hot air.
03
The mass is set back to the setback line, and what is left becomes a working terrace
The mandatory three-metre setback was not left as motorcycle parking. It became a shallow-roofed terrace where coffee sacks are opened and sorted — work done every day that usually never gets a place of its own.
04
The machine foundation is separated from the building foundation
A roasting machine vibrates. The separation was required by the structural engineer, and it set the column positions across the whole ground floor.
05
Every material was chosen from what is available in Yogyakarta
Exposed brick, exposed concrete with plywood formwork, standard steel sections, and polished screed floors. Not one material had to be ordered from another city.
Working drawings
Plans, sections, and details from the working drawing set for this project. Annotations inside the drawings stay in Indonesian: the people reading them are on site.
Regulatory compliance
| Parameter | Provision | Used |
|---|---|---|
| KDB (building coverage) | max 70% (126 m²) | 118 m² |
| KLB (floor area ratio) | max 2.0 | 1.14 |
| KDH (green area) | min 15% | 21% |
| GSB (front setback) | 3 m from plot boundary | 3 m |
| Height | max 2 storeys | 2 storeys |
| Permit | PBG, commercial building | processed in 7 weeks |
The provisions applied to this site in this year. Provisions differ between areas and can change. The abbreviations are the Indonesian regulatory terms and are kept as they are.
Permit processing time
7 weeks
Processing time at the authority is outside the studio’s control. We record the actual time for each project so that you have a real picture rather than a promise.
Existing condition
Construction
Dated progress photographs, in chronological order.
Built
What changed on site
The flue was raised 80 cm above the drawn height after the first operating test showed the smoke still falling when the wind came from the east. The change was completed before handover and recorded in the as-built drawings.
The glass between the cafe and the roasting area was changed from single to double glazing because the radiant heat was noticeable at the nearest table.
No project runs exactly as drawn.
What I remember is that our first meeting spent two hours on where the smoke goes. I thought architects only talked about appearances.
Credits
- Client
- A coffee business owner who had been renting a shophouse and wanted to move the roasting machine into a building of their own
- Structural engineer
- Independent practice, Yogyakarta
- MEP engineer
- Mechanical & electrical engineer
- Contractor
- Main contractor
- Photographer
- Studio photography collaborator
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